Once again, it's that time of year when we are thinking "New Years Resolutions". Now that I have lowered my LDL cholesterol and triglycerides to healthy ranges, I'm looking to change things up a bit. So in 2015, I will be participating in the Challenge Loop. I will be posting a challenge and encouraging others to join me. It's always more fun to do a challenge with other people. This time, there are no New Years Resolutions - just a challenge to try something different and see if it can be done. Who's with me?

I went for a health screening today and all my numbers are looking good, except for triglycerides. This number should be below 150, mine is 167. It is not bad but it needs to be better. A year ago, there were many numbers that were out of wack. I have changed all of them with the exception of triglycerides through working out and eating better. A little more fine tuning on what I eat and continuing with my workouts should fix this. So I'm off to learn more about triglycerides!!!

I went for another test on my cholesterol last week and all my numbers are looking better. My LDL is up a little so I still have to work on that. High cholesterol does run in my family so it is something I have to be aware of every day. I'm doing everything possible to lower LDL but it is resisting. I have been more active with yard work and am looking to add riding my bike outside to the mix of activities. I think if I lose maybe 5 more pounds, that will help the LDL. Being tall, I don't want to lose too much weight because then I would look sick. So I continue in my fight to lower LDL.....

I have to say that eating more veggies, fruits, and healthy foods is easier than I thought. I am feeling more energetic now that I have less processed foods daily. Plus as an added bonus I have lost 2.5 lbs. I feel that being busy all the time is part of why I lost track of how I was eating. This does happen to all of us but we need to be vigilant of this happening. It starts with a little something bad here and there and then it is out of control. The weight creeps on and we feel sluggish. The other thing I've been improving is getting adequate sleep. Staying awake to get more done only makes one more tired and less efficient the next day. I eat good quality, fresh food and experiment with different ideas when putting items together. I did find I was hungry more at first but I made sure there was protein with each meal and that helped.

Okay, I got a shock this week. I workout all the time (weightlifting, bike riding, yoga) and I felt I ate pretty good. I had a health screening this week and what a surprise. The numbers were getting close to borderline for triglycerides, total cholesterol and my glucose too. At first, I was mad at myself because this has never happened before, how could it? My friends and family kept saying "but you workout all the time and eat well, how could that be." Then I started researching the causes of these numbers increasing and I am guilty of several bad habits. The scary thing is if I never went for this check-up, how would I have known. It makes me wonder how many of us "feel" we do everything right but never go for a check-up. Please do this for yourself. Then make changes. After sharing this with several people, a couple have shown interest in working on their health with me. We are all concerned about the quality of the food we ingest. I am looking for a online holistic nutrition program to further my research.

I became a personal trainer to help people realize how easy it is to achieve their fitness goals. I have worked for Power House Gym in Hickory Hills and I also work for Benefit Personal Training (which is an in-home training company). I prefer to work with clients in their homes because I believe everyone can workout and you don't need an expensive gym membership to do it. The best part about being a personal trainer is seeing my clients reach their goals and having fitness become a part of their everyday life.